Red Scarf
by AnaLeeBR
Summary: [PRE-GAME] After his fiancée's suicide, there's nothing left in Yomiel's life, or undead life, in that case. The only thing he still got from her is a red scarf that brings a lot of memories of her. And there's still that black kitten who's been following him. That little guy needs a name.


**A Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective fanfiction. It contain MAJOR spoilers of the game ending. You have been warned!**

* * *

 _I don't know why I'm still here. I shouldn't even be alive anymore, so why am I still here?_

It was ten o'clock at night. A blond-haired man dressed in a red suit was sitting in a sidewalk in a lonely spot of town, immersed in an infinite anguish.  
It seemed that the gods were so bored that they decided to play a terrible prank on him. First, he was being accused of a crime he didn't commit. Second, they stole his life away with a strange meteorite fragment that fell from the sky all of a sudden. Third, he gained strange powers. Somehow his soul was able to posses small living beings. For some reason he didn't understand, he was also able to re-posses his dead body, although it wasn't anything like being alive again. Fourth and even more tragic than the previous things: his fiancée had killed herself.  
Right after he recovered his body from the morgue, he hurried to her house, only to find her dead, leaving him only a note that said: _"I'm coming to you, Yomiel."_  
The only woman he truly cared for was now gone from his life forever and there was nothing he could do. His life, his love and all of his dreams were stolen from him forever.

Now he was sitting at a lonely spot of town, devastated, and without having any idea what to do or where to go. He was nothing but a piece of human being who was thrown away without any use. He felt like he was just a bunch of atoms together that no longer served for anything, just to take up space. The only thing who could save him from his misery was death itself, but he couln't even appeal to it because he was already dead. In fact his situation was even worse than he thought: he was stuck between life and death. He already tried to commit suicide to be dead for good but it didn't work as it should. He had tried everything he could think of: Hanging, drowning, poisoning and finally he'd tried to stab his own heart... Only to find out (to his horror) that his body would return to normal soon afterwards, as if the knife had never been plunged into his chest. He couldn't die. His soul couldn't join his fiancée, wherever she was. His body was turned into some kind of immortal walking-shell and he was a ghost stuck in this world. And nothing could change that, much to his despair.

 _"It doesn't make sense that I still exist. Everything that I loved was taken away from me, was torn away from my life and I didn't even had the chance to say goodbye. What did I do to deserve all of this suffering? I never had bad intentions, I never wanted to hurt anyone and this is the reward I get? Now I can realize how unfair life is."_ Yomiel thought to himself. The drizzle was drenching his red suit, as if the skies were crying the tears he couldn't cry. A dead man doesn't have the physical hability to shed tears, after all.

He took a small piece of red cloth from his pocket. It was Sissel's favorite neckerchief. She was always using it around her neck, ever since her childhood, when he first met her. It had a very strong meaning to the two of them, and now, it was the only thing that was left of her. Old memories resurfaced his mind as he held Sissel's red scarf.

* * *

 _Two kids were in their way to the school. A girl with a dark violet hair was talking excitedly with her best friend, the blond-haired shy boy who was always being bullied by the other kids. About two months ago she had moved to his neighborhood and began to attend in the same school as him. Seeing how lonely the boy was and how the other kids used to bully him because of his studious behavior, she felt so sorry for the poor boy that she tried to befriend him. Since then, they became friends so easily that it was almost as if they were siblings._  
 _As they were walking, Sissel was talking about something funny she just saw yesterday in her favorite TV show when she was cut off by the boy._

" _Hey, Sissy... May I ask you something?"_  
 _  
"Sure! Go ahead!" The girl answered with a smile._  
 _  
"Why do you always wear this red scarf around your neck?"_  
 _  
She stoped walking and looked directly at him, slightly surprised at his sudden question._  
 _  
"Why are you asking me this?"_  
 _  
Yomiel blushed a little and looked down, ashamed. He thought he'd made a stupid question to her._  
 _  
"Well... huh.. I'm just curious... That's all..." He fidgeted nervously with his fingers_  
 _  
Sissel looked straight into his eyes and she could notice the innocence and sincerity in his words. Then, she took a deep breath before answering her friend._  
 _  
"Well... You see... This red scarf once belonged to my mother. It was her favorite and she used to wear it all the time. I was too young when she left this world, so I can't remember her very well... So my dad gave it to me so I would always remember about her. It's like a part of her is always with me, no matter what. That's why I wear it all the time."_  
 _  
"Oh..." Yomiel looked down, his eyes expressing his pity."I see... I'm so sorry for your mom..."_  
 _  
"You don't need to feel sorry. She's in a better place now." Sissel remained silent for a few minutes. It always hurt her to think about her mother. She looked at Yomiel who was still feeling sorry for her and Sissel decided it was better to just forget about sad memories. She tried to break that sad atmosphere by cheering him up._  
 _  
"Hey! How about a race? The first one to arrive at school wins a chocolate bar!" She said as she began to run, leaving the boy behind. He lifted his head and saw that Sissel was already very far away from him._  
 _  
"Hey! Hold on! I'm not prepared yet! That's unfair!" The boy shouted as he started to run after the girl._

* * *

That memory seemed as if it had happened a thousand years before, in a time too far away, haunting him like a ghost. He looked at the red scarf in his hands, a scarf that was some kind of inheritance to him. It was once from Sissel's mother, then it was passed to her when her mother died, and then it was his. That red piece of cloth always had a strong meaning behind it: to remember about its previous owners with the love they deserved. Although Sissel didn't have a clear memory of her deceased mother, she still loved her so much that she was always wearing the scarf in her memory. So, it wasn't just an ordinary scarf, it was a sign of love. But not only a motherly love, but also a childish love. He could remember very well the day Sissel gave the red scarf to him, one day before she moved to another country.

* * *

 _"Is it true? You're... really going to leave?" The boy was still stunned by the sudden news she had just told two kids were standing in the playground at Temsik Park, where they used to play everyday. It was a cloudy, gray day and it gave the exact feeling of what the boy was feeling at that moment. Sadness and loneliness. His only friend in the entire world was going to leave and he was going to be left all alone again._

 _"Yeah... Unfortunately..." She sobbed. Tears were forming in her little eyes. "My dad got a better job, but it's in another country... We'll have to leave... But I don't want to go!" She began to cry. Tears were soaking the young girl's face as she held her best friend's hands carefully on her own._

 _Yomiel was trying so hard not to cry, but it wasn't working. He didn't want her to go either. She was his only friend in the world. He didn't want to be all alone again._

 _"When... when will you have to leave?"_

 _She bit the bottom of her lip, trying to hold the tears that wanted to stream down by her face._

 _"We're leaving tomorrow, at afternoon." She squeezed his hands and looked into his eyes "Listen, Yommy... I want you to promise me something."_

 _"Sure. Anything."_

 _"I want you to have this." She gave him a small piece of red cloth, which he recognized as being her favorite red scarf that she always used to wear around her neck._

 _"But... But isn't that your mother's..."_

 _"I know." The girl interrupted him. "It's the only thing I still have from my mother. When I look at it, I always remember about her. But now, I don't think I need it anymore... Now I want you to have it, so everytime you look at it, you'll remember about me, just like I remembered about my mother during all these years."_

 _"B-but... Sissy, I can't keep it! It's your favorite..." He tried to hold his tears._

 _"Please, Yommy! I want you to look after it for me! So this way, I'll always be with you, even if I'm far away..." A new flood of tears broke into her face as she faced him. "I promise that, one day, we'll meet again. When that day comes, you can give it back to me, but until then... I want you to take good care of it for me, okay?"_

 _Unable to contain the sadness that came over his heart, Yomiel hugged Sissel, weeping._

 _"Okay, I promise"_

* * *

Yomiel bit his lip, feeling his soul shatter with the memory. After she left, he had never stopped thinking about her. The red scarf was always with him, reminding him of her, of her sweet smile, of her laugh... But most importantly, of their promise. He was going to give it back to her one day, even if he had to travel the whole world to do so. That small piece of fabric had become more precious to him than all the money in the world. And he could remember very well the day he had kept his promise...

* * *

 _Seven years had passed since his best friend moved to another country. Seven long years without her. At least, without her physical presence, because she never left his mind. Whenever he wanted, he could look at the red scarf she'd given him on the day before her departure and he would remember everything about her._

 _He never had another friend besides her. As he was already a timid type and had bad experiences with other children back then, he failed on his attempts to befriend someone else. He became used to this over time. Although he was not being bothered by the other teenagers very often, like in his childhood, there were still some bullies who would torment him, forcing him to do their homework and stealing his lunch money._

 _One day, however, he wasn't their victim._

 _He was passing by an empty alley in his way to the high school when he heard some noises coming from it._

 _"Leave me alone!" a female voice shouted._

 _He glanced in the direction of the voice and he saw two bullies tormenting a beautiful girl with a long violet hair. He couldn't recognize her face in the shadows, so he assumed she was new in the neighborhood. Newbie or not, she was in trouble, anyway._

 _"She seems so familiar..." He thought for a moment as he saw her hair color. But that detail wasn't so important this time. He needed to help her first._

 _"You guys are really a pain in the ass." he shouted to the bullies to get their attention. "Only cowards disturb a woman. Why don't you bother me, instead? Or aren't you men enough?"_

 _The two bullies turned to his direction._

 _"Oh, so you want to play the hero now, huh? That's going to be nice!" they said a they walked towards him. The girl was sitting on the ground, watching in fear as one of the bullies grabbed the boy by his shirt collar._

 _"What are you going to do now, 'hero'?"_

 _Before he could do something, Yomiel kneed him in the groin, with made the bully let go off him. He took the chance to punch the bully in the face._

 _"What do you think of this?" He smirked confidendly, but then he felt a strong hand hitting his face and when he realised, he was lying on the floor. He looked up and saw the other bully looking down at him with a fierce anger in his eyes. The boy was twice his size and suddenly Yomiel cursed himself for being so dumb in challenging them. What was he thinking? He could never win a fight with two large boys like that, but at least he hoped the girl could get away while they were busy dealing with him._

 _"Now you're going to pay for such insolence!" the other bully pulled a knife from his pocket and was about to stab him before they heard a siren of a police car nearby._

 _"Oh Shi...!" The two bullies shouted and began to run away from the scene as fast they could. Yomiel sighed in relief as the two bullies run, not believing the luck he just had. Of course he never expected he could actually win a fight with two bullies, after all, he was far from being a fighter, but at least he hoped he could buy enough time so the girl could escape. It was still a dumb thing to do, since if it weren't for the police arriving on time, he could have been killed by now. With some difficulty, he stood up and approached the girl, who was still sitting on the ground._

 _"Hey, are you all right? Did they hurt you?" he said as he reached a hand to her. The girl took his hand and stood up, but she remained silent, looking at him in astonishment._

 _"What's wrong?" he asked, after the awkward silence._

 _She touched his face gently, as if to prove to herself that the young man in front of her was real and not something from her imagination._

 _"Yomiel?" She whispered. "Is that really you?"_

 _His eyes widened in surprise as he heard his name coming from her mouth and he became speechless for a while. Slowly, he took off his sunglasses to take a better look at the girl's face._

 _"Sissel?" it was the only thing he managed to say._

 _There was no verbal answer. Her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace, tears of joy beginning to form in her eyes. "I've missed you so much!"_

 _He was so surprised by her sudden act that he was paralyzed for a while. But soon, the joy overcame his shyness and he hugged his childhood friend as well._

 _"I've missed you too!" He whispered, pulling her closer, not really believing she was there! After seven long years, she was finally there, with him! He felt an immense warmth rising inside of his chest and spreading through his whole body and he felt as if he just recovered a part of him that was missing. He wasn't feeling alone anymore._

 _They stood in each other's arms for what seemed like a long time until finally she pulled away from him. Yomiel felt a strange sensation when she left his arms, a slight shiver that came down his spine and he felt his face go warmer, becoming a light shade of red. He tried to not pay much attention to this, though._

 _"I can't believe it! After all this time... I've finally found you! Well... not in a way I'd expected, however." Sissel said, a little embarrassed._

 _He chuckled softly. That situation reminded him so much of the troubles Sissel always put herself in when they were kids._

 _"Always getting yourself in trouble, aren't you? Lucky I was here to save you." He said with a playful smirk, which she responded with a giggle and a light shove on his shoulder._

 _"Don't get too cocky." She said, now looking a bit worried. "You also put yourself in danger. That guy was going to stab you if the police haven't arrived in time..." Her eyes lowered to the floor._

 _"Hey, it's all right! We're both safe now." Yomiel said with a chuckle, but deep down, he was secretly thanking the gods for this little miracle._

 _"Nevertheless, that was very brave of you." She smiled. "Or foolish, either."_

 _"Maybe both?" he chuckled and she giggled in return._

 _"Yeah, maybe both..." She paused for a brief moment and remained thoughtful for a while. "I thought I would never see you again…" she spoke softly when suddenly she saw something that got her attention. A red bandana wrapped around Yomiel's neck. Sissel's eyebrows frowned as she approached him and reached a hand to the familiar red bandana around his neck._

 _"Sissel? What's wrong?" Yomiel asked, very confused by her sudden reaction. He watched as she wrapped her fingers in his bandana, loosening the knot. The smooth cloth untied itself and fell from his neck to her hands. She took the red scarf and was speechless for a few minutes._

 _"My mom's red scarf..." she whispered as she run her fingers across the red cloth thad had once been her late mother's favorite scarf. "I can't believe you kept it with you after all this time..."_

 _He took her hand and smiled._

 _"Well, of course I did. It was a promise, remember? I promised you I would carry it with me until the day we met again, so I could give it back to you. That's why I never forgot about you. I wasn't really alone all this time because you were with me. Well, symbolically speaking, of course."_

 _Sissel smiled softly at him. After all this time, he had never forgot about her... He had waited for her all along. She wrapped her arms aroud him again, this time in a softer hug._

 _"Thank you for waiting for me all along..." She whispered softly, leaning her face against his chest._

 _"I would wait for you for all eternity, if necessary." He spoke gently as he returned the embrace, pulling her closer and resting his chin on top of her head._

 _Sissel blushed as she heard his words and pulled away to face him. Yomiel suddenly realized how awkward his phrase sounded and immediately tried to fix things._

 _"I-I-I mean... That's what f-friends do, isn't it? And y-you're my best friend! T-That's what I meant!" He said awkwardly, feeling his face burning in embarrasment. His cheeks were now the same color of Sissel's red scarf and she giggled at his clumsiness._

 _"Oh! I understood, silly." She said in a playful tone, but she also looked a little upset. She didn't understand why she was feeling upset about what he just said, though. After all, he was right! That's what friends do. And this was a true friendship... Or it could be something more?_

* * *

Yomiel then heard a meow which interrupted his thoughts. He glanced down and saw the small black kitten staring at him with its big yellow eyes. Apparently, it had followed him since he had left it waiting in a bush in front of the police station when he went to get his body back from the morgue.  
For a brief moment, Yomiel was silent, staring at the kitten who was rubbing its head against his legs. Then, after a while, he reached a hand to the little feline.

"I think we're in the same boat, little guy. You have no one else and nowhere to go" He said softly, scratching behind the kitten's ears. The little creature was purring excitedly. "So, I guess you can come with me. But you will need a name... How should I call you, then?"

As he stopped petting the kitten, something got the feline's attention. He sniffed the red scarf that was still in Yomiel's hand and poked it with his paws, in curiosity.

"Oh! You want this?" Yomiel lifted the red scarf above the kitten's head and the animal tried to catch it with both paws. The man smiled lightly as he saw the small kitten playing with his late fiancée's scarf. "All right! Since you liked it so much, you can have it, little guy."

He then tied the red bandana around the kitten's thin neck. He meowed and purred in satisfaction, which made Yomiel smile.

"You know what? That's a very special scarf. It reminds us of the ones who are important to us, somehow. So, promise me you will take good care of it for me, all right buddy?"

The kitten rubbed his head against Yomiel's hand, which he assumed it was a "yes".

"All right. So, it's a promisse, then." Yomiel said, rubbing the little kitten's head. Then he looked at the sky. The drizzle was getting stronger. He couldn't feel it, but he assumed it was getting colder and he needed to find a place for him and his new furry friend to spend the night. "We need to find a place to stay. Let's go now, _**Sissel**_..."

He grabbed his newly named friend in his arms, holding him tightly so he wouldn't get cold, and walked away, leaving behind everything that he once knew. He had no ideia of what he was going to do from now on, but at least he wasn't so alone anymore. At least now he had a friend who would always keep him company. As he walked down the streets with his little friend in his arms, he remembered the promise he made to his fiancée when they were still just two innocent kids:

 _I want you to look after it for me... So this way, I'll always be with you, even if I'm far away... I promise that, one day, we'll meet again. When that day comes, you can give it back to me, but until then... I want you to take good care of it for me, okay?"_

 _Okay... I promise..._


End file.
